The Dark Side of the Moon
by venetian shadow
Summary: "It's as if she fell out of the sky..." A young woman staggers her way to Bard on a dank and foggy afternoon while he's hunting. She collapses and he takes her home to tend to her wounds. She has no memory, only scars and a deep empathy for all those around her. But when the elves sense her while she's on their territory, will they have the answers or further questions?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N I own nothing except the story and Sky. I hope you enjoy reading. I've had a long break from writing so any critique is welcome, just be nice **

**Chapter One.**

It was cold, foggy and grey. The air was heavy with mist and water, soon it would rain and that rain would be ice cold sheets of wet despair. Spring was soon to be making its annual appearance but it was taking a long and leisurely time in doing so. It was nearing evening and the grey night was drawing in quicker than it should have been for the time of year, and it was the quickness of the shadows that had Bard returning to his barge quicker and slightly less cautious than normal. Carrying a satchel of rabbits he had caught that day on his right shoulder, his bow slung over his left and holding his quiver of arrows and a dagger tightly in his hands he scurried through out the trees toward where he had safely docked his transport home. His ears were alert to the stillness around him, awaiting any sound which might be cause for alarm, his eyes had adjusted to the dank fog that covered everything from the ankles up toward the sky, blocking out the dull sun. He topped and stood as still as stone, there was nothing to sense; no danger, no enemy nor friend. Just himself and his catch. He sighed and took toward the edge of the lake, walking around boulders and rocks, certain his feet would get him there with ease. And get him there they did, with a sigh of relief he bounded on to his vessel and unloaded his belongings in to a wooden barrel and leaped off the barge once again and made his way to the rope that had been keeping his barge docked to a large boulder for the afternoon. A chill ran down his spine and he shrugged it off, his fingers numb with chill struggling to undo the knot. The chill seemed an inconvenience to him at the moment, but it soon became the inconvenience of another, as out of the corner of his eye he saw something not even three feet away from him; a cloaked figure walking slowly and unsteadily toward him. He stood straight, ready for anything that may launch itself at him, but the figure continued to sway toward him until it was in arms reach.

"H…..Help me." It whispered, before taking one last stumbling step toward him and falling in to his arms. The bargeman caught the figure and held it steadily against him, using his right hand to support it upright against his chest, and his left to pull the hood away to reveal the stranger. What he saw caused his breath to catch; a woman! Or was it? She was pale, a bruise on her right cheek and a gash on her forehead, her bottom lip was cut, her ear was subtly and slightly pointed, the shape was not obvious unless you looked hard for a diffrence. She was in bad condition.

"Who are you?" Bard muttered to the unconscious woman before picking her up and carrying her on to the barge. He settled her in the only dry corner he could find on the deck and covered her in a spare blanket that he kept inside one of the many barrels, he put her hood back over her head to keep her warm and dry and once again leapt off the deck to untie to barge and push it away from the edge. Finally he was setting off toward home, but instead of just rabbits for a stew, he was also returning home with an unexpected passenger.

"What trouble have you bought down on yourself now Bard?" He saidquietly to himself, steering his vessel along the darkening and icey waters.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two.**

"Evening Bard, it's going to be a cold one tonight!" Percy nodded as the barge made its way through the gate. Bard stopped and signed himself back in to the village on the lake and sighed.

"I fear it is. Percy, I seem to have picked up a visitor. She's in bad shape and hurt, I need to bring her in and get her seen by the town doctor. Can you pass the message on to him for me?" Bard gave a pleading look, hoping that no trouble would come. He didn't want to smuggle her in only to be caught and the woman to end up back out in the wilds again. Percy chewed his lip and looked around.

"Aye, I'll see what I can do. Where's she from?" Percy began to fill in a mass array of papers in a hurry.

"I don't know. It's almost as if she fell out of the sky. She's not woken and I don't know what sense she'll able to give when she wakes up."

"Fell out the sky hey? I guess that's what we'll call her for now then." Percy handed Bard a wad of papers. "I'll pass the message on. I hope Miss Sky enjoys her visit to her father's friend." Percy gave Bard a nod, Bard returned a smile.

"Thank you Percy. I owe you."

"Think nothing of it." And with that Percy turned his back to pass a slip of paper to his young son, who ran off from the docks. "Get her warm, help will be with you soon."

Bard nodded and pushed the barge toward its resting place. It seemed to take longer than usual, but he got there, moored the boat and put his satchel, bow and quiver over one shoulder and scooped up his guest in his arms and carried her on to the walkway and quickly made his way home.

As soon as he was through the door the children were there to ask questions.

"Da? Whose that?" Asked Sigrid.

"Did you bring rabbits Da?" Tilda peered in to the satchel.

"Bane, clear the table." Bard asked and watched as his soon leapt to do as he was bid with Tilda and Sigrid helping him remove plants and pots from the table. Bard laid the woman down and Sigrid placed a pillow over her head, she turned to her younger sister and spoke softly.

"Fetch a blanket Tilda."

Tilda nodded and scurried to the other side of the house, Bain took the bow, quiver and bag from Bard, Tilda returned and placed a woollen blanket over the sleeping form on their dining table. All froze in unknown fear as the door knocked.

"Stay quiet." Bard instructed as he opened the door slowly and ready to pounce, but he was relieved to see it was Jones, Laketown's only doctor.

"I hear you have a visitor who has been taken ill?" The greying older man said in a hushed tone.

"Yes." Bard replied and moved to the side so the doctor could walk through the door. Was Jones was in, Bard closed and bolted the door. Jones made his way over to the table and took the woman's hood off her head and looked down at her face and pressed a finger to her neck in search of a pulse.

"I see this young lady has had quiet the brawl. Her pulse is steady, she's very cold though. " Jones pulled back the blanket and opened her cloak, Tilda and Sigrid gasped in horror, Bain looked away and Bard began to curl his fists and his sides; she was in a blood drenched grey shirt, tight brown trousers that were also stained with blood, mud and grass. Jones unbuttoned her shirt at the stomach and found the source of the blood.

"Get me a pail of hot water, cloths and open my bag. I'll need bandages and oil of lavender. Also the sewing instruments. I can't tell how bad it is until I clean the wound. The blood seems to have slowed though." Sigrid mentally shook herself and set to work. Bard knelt down to his youngest daughters level and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Tilda, she's going to need clean clothes. Go and see what Sigrid has that you think she'll like ready for when she wakes up." He gave his daughter a reassuring smile, Tilda nodded and ran quickly away to the small bedroom she shared with her sister. Bard looked at Bain.

"See to the rabbits, we'll all need hot food when this is done with." He instructed.

Bain simply nodded, too shocked to speak and having nothing of use to say. Sigrid helped Jones to clean the woman's wounds and Bard stood beside the window keeping an eye out for any suspecting passers-by.

"Here, she can wear these!" Tilda had returned with a grey dress and white shirt and handed them to Sigrid.

"Thank you. Here, put these in to soak in hot salted water and help Bain." Sigrid handed Tilda the blood stained clothes and began to dress the woman while Jones sewed the wound on her torso. Sigrid and the doctor noticed that she had bruises and old scars all over her; there was rope tightly bound around each of her wrists which had dug in to the delicate skin that it had left rope burns and open gashes. Her knees and the palms of both her hands were badly grazed as if she had fallen down a slope of loose shale, a long and silver looking scar dragged across her left breast. It seemed to be what was left of a knife attack.

"Bard, I don't know who she is or what has happened to her, but she needs rest, warmth and clearly a lot of help. Someone has done this to her and she is very lucky to be alive." Jones spoke calmly, dressing her wounds. Bard turned around and saw Sigrid pulling the dress down to the girls ankles while Jones tended to her wrists.

"She looks like she was held captive." Bard commented.

"I think she was held prisoner. She's malnourished but looks to be a strong young woman. Bard, who is she?"

"She is Sky. Her father was a friend of the family." Bard said sternly, looking at Jones, willing him to believe the cover up.

"Well, Sky will need looking after. She has a difficult recovery ahead of her. Keep her warm. I will come morning and evening each day to check on her and change the dressings. If anything should happen, anything at all, you come to fetch me immediately." Jones tied off the last dressing, cleaned his hands and gathered his things.

"I will. Thank you." Bard placed a hand on the doctors shoulder as he led him to the door. "How do I pay you?" He said silently.

"Keep her alive, I want to know her story Bard. Then we can talk."

The two men shook hands and Bard thanked him once again and showed the good man out and then locked the door once again.

Bard crossed the room and pulled back the heavy curtains that kept his bed from view of the rest of the house. He pulled back the blankets and went back over to the woman on the table, gathered her in his arms and placed her in his bed. Covering her and making sure she was warm and hoping she was comfortable, he gently traced along the bruise on her cheek.

"Please wake up soon. Please tell us who you are Sky."

And with that, he left the woman to sleep and heal, keeping watch by her bedside for four days and three nights until she stirred.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three.**

"Bain! Fetch the doctor, now!" Sigrid called out.

"Is she awake?" Tilda asked, tugging at her sisters hand.

"I think she will be soon." Sigrid smiled at her sister and they watched Bain run out the door with no questions asked. The had been waiting for this moment with fear and curiosity, and it was with that fear and curiosity that the two girls stood behind their father while he sat on the edge of the bed where the sleeping form was stirring in pain.

"Stay back girls, don't crowd her." Bard urged. He watched his daughters step back a few paces and returned his eyes to the woman's face. He could see she was in pain and fighting, but he did not know whether she was fighting to awaken or to return to her healing slumber.

"Shhhhhh, it's okay. You're going to be alright." Bard said softly, holding her hand. He did not want her to wake up alone with the pain. But he also didn't want to frighten her either.

Jones and Bain rushed through the door and bolted it shit. The doctor made his way to the end of the bed and watched silently, waiting for a sign as to what he should do to help her-he couldn't make any decisions until she was awake now. Bard softly stroked her cheek, silently pleading for her to calm and not to cause herself any pain. Before he knew it, a hand grabbed and his wrist and another shot out to his throat and clung tightly as the woman sat upright in bed as quick as a flash of lightening.

"Who are you? Why are you touching me?" Her voice spat with authority.

"Da! Tilda cried and rushed forward, Bain and Sigrid held her back sensing how dangerous the situation was quickly becoming.

"It's alright Miss, you're safe. We can explain." Jones held out his hands to show he posed no threat while Bard did not struggle, he was afraid of hurting her, so he placed his free hand on the arm that was helping to hold him by the throat.

"You can…trust me." He managed to stutter.

She looked in to his eyes and saw the deep pools of brown which she had looked in to as he caught her. That was her last memory. Gasping, she let go of him and recoiled in to the corner of the bed and tight up against the wall. She looked around with fear in her eyes from one face to the next before settling her eyes back on Bard.

"You're safe now. I'm Bard and this is my family. We're not going to hurt you." He said quietly to her. He held out his hand and waited. Time seemed to agonisingly slow down at that moment and she just looked, inspected his hand and her surroundings. She didn't sense danger, but then again she didn't know where she was, who these people were or who she was. She reached out slowly and touched his finger tips with her own and felt a strange warmth rush over her. It was as if her last memory and her body was telling her to trust him, that she really was safe.

"You…..helped me?" She asked. He nodded.

"Yes. I bought you to my home, we kept you warm and safe. The doctor cleaned your cuts. You're safe Sky."

"Sky?" She cocked her head to the side slightly. Bard gave a small smile.

"Yes. You seemed to have appeared from nowhere, as if you fell out of the sky. You didn't have a name so we called you Sky."

"Did I fall out of the sky?" She asked in a whisper, so very confused.

"Do you feel like you did?" He asked, watching as she thought for a moment.

"I don't know. I don't know how it would feel to fall out of the sky."

"It would hurt." Jones spoke up, coming forward slightly so he was more in her line of sight.

"Is that why I hurt?" She asked. Bard shook his head and let the doctor answer.

"I think you were in a fight, held captive most likely. I had to sew a deep wound on your stomach. You had rope around both wrists which cut the skin. You have bruises and some smaller cuts. You're small in frame and I think you've been malnourished for a while. Once you have something to eat and get your strength up the bruises will fade and the pain will subside, but if it gets too much I have an elixir that will ease it some." Jones nodded and stepped over to Sigrid and her siblings. "Get her a small cup of broth, if she manages to keep it down give her some more with some bread. Small meals for the next few days so it doesn't over whelm her system. Keep her here in the warm. You know where I am any time of day or night." Sigrid nodded and went to the kitchen taking her siblings with her. The doctor went to Bard's side and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I will take my leave. I'll be back tomorrow to check on her." Bard nodded and let the doctor see himself out.

"I'd like to see." She finally said in a quiet tone.

"Are you sure? It's going to shock you." Bard replied, concerned.

"It can't shock me if I don't know how I looked before. "

Bard nodded and helped her to her feet and let her down the small and narrow stairs to the privy and moved so she could see herself in the old and cracked mirror. She gasped in shock as she traced over her cut lip and bruised cheek and took in the sight of the healing cut on her forehead. Bard sighed and watched with concern. She scanned her reflection, taking in the colour of her creamy pale skin, her knotted and tangled honey coloured hair and finally settled on her eyes' one light blue as a summers sky and one flecked with emerald green. She gave herself a determined look and touched her hair. "Sky." She said, nodding and turning to face Bard. "I am Sky, and you are Bard."

"Yes." He nodded.

"And I am safe here with you, Bard, and your children."

"Sigrid, Tilda and Bain. And yes, you're very safe here."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4.**

"These are papers that now belong to you. They say that your father was a friend to this family and you've come to visit." Bard slid the folded documents along the table to Sky, who was enjoying a third helping of broth and bread.

"What happened to him? My father?" She asked in between bites and sips.

"He passed on, so you came to stay here for a time, while you grieve." Sigrid interrupted, knowing her father's look meant he didn't know what to say. He gave his daughter a proud look.

"How would staying with friends help? If you lose someone then surely nothing can help?" Sky asked inquisitively.

"Because we lost our mother and had no one help us, so now we can help you. Because that's what friends do." Tilda gave Sky a beaming smile as she tried to brush Sky's badly matted hair.

"Ouch." Sky winced a little.

"I'm really sorry. You have a lot knots." Tilda tried again but more gently but the knot still wasn't budging.

"Is it that bad?" Sky turned to face Tilda who gave a sad look and nodded. Sky turned to Sigrid. "Maybe we should cut it? It's clearly far too long and by the time all the knots are out, it'll be time to do battle with the comb again. And I'm sure you've better and more fun things to do."

"But it's so long. It's real princess hair. You can't cut it Sky!" Tilda protested.

"Tilda, just a little off the ends will help a lot. Like it does when your hair starts to get too long and tangled." Sigrid went over to Tilda and stroked the younger girls hair.

"But it's sad. If I lost my memories I'd be sad to lose my hair too."

Sky turned in her seat and faced the younger girl and gave her a small smile.

"I'm not losing all of it, only a little. And it'll grow back very quickly. I promise." Sky said.

"You can't promise because you don't know." Tilda folded her arms in front of her.

"Every living thing grows little one. That I do know." Sky tucked a strand of hair behind Tilda's ear and smiled.

"It's time for you three to go to bed. Bain, take a pan of hot coals to put under all of your blankets. Five minutes and I want all of you tucked up. I'll come in and check soon." Bard spoke with the gentle authority only a father can speak with.

"Yes Da." Tilda said while looking at her feet. She wanted to spend more time with their new house guest now that she was awake.

"I'll still be here tomorrow Tilda, go and get in to bed. You're looking very tired tonight." Sky smiled.

"Come on Tilda, it's been a long night and it's late." Goodnight Da, goodnight Sky." Sigrid took Tilda's hand and began to lead her to their shared bedroom.

"Goodnight." Sky waved back as Tilda gave a wave before being ushered to bed.

Sky turned back to face Bard.

"They're wonderful children. Thank you for taking care of me and having me in your home." She looked down at her hands and looked back up to meet his gaze. "It couldn't have been easy to decide to bring me back here, especially given the way I must have looked with all those cuts and bruises."

"I couldn't have very well left you out there alone. Anything could've happened to you, anyone could've found you." He replied.

"But we don't know who I am or who might be looking for me. I won't be able to forgive myself if I've bought something down upon your family Bard."

"And I wouldn't have been able to forgive myself if I had left you out there. I can deal with anyone who comes for you, I said you're safe here and safe is what you'll stay. We can learn more about you in time, memories will return once you're fully healed." Bard tapped her hand lightly with his forefinger. "I'll go check on the children. You res easy and don't let anything of that sort trouble you." He got up and left the table and made his way to the only bedroom of the house to check his children were getting in to bed and that they would be warm enough during the night. Sky sighed and while she waited for Bard's return she quietly cleared away the family's plates and looked at the rest of the sleeping arrangements; Bard had put the cushions of the arm chairs on the floor beside the double bed and that was what he had been sleeping on. She shook her head, her rescuer could not sleep on the floor while she rested comfortably in his bed. As valiant as that was, she could not allow it. While Bard sat with his children and told them a tale of fairies and elves, she changed in to the white nightdress Sigrid had left out for her, wincing with pain as she lifted her arms and looked at her battle-worn body, she covered up again, folded her clothes and traced a line along the scar above her left breast with a frown. Bard returned from saying goodnight to his family and saw her.

"Don't fret, everything will be fine Sky." He placed a hand lightly and gently on her shoulder and she looked up at him with a pained expression.

"Bard, these scars…The way I was found. Nothing good can come from it. I don't want those memories." She shook her head, her eyes glistening with moisture. It was then that he did something he had not done in a long time; He took the woman in his arms and held her to him. A gesture that gave them both deep comfort.

"Then you can make new memories. You don't need anything that will cause you pain. You need any misery, grief or sadness. You have a new name, a reason for being here. We can find you home here and you can have a new life here. If you want it, that is."

Sky pulled away slightly and looked up in to his warm dark eyes and smiled.

"It is." Sky slowly backed away and looked out of the window and up in to the night sky. "It's so dark and overcast out tonight." Bard made his way to the window next to her and nodded.

"It seems that tonight we're on the dark side of the moon."

**A/N; BOOM! There you have it! I slipped in the title! Mostly because I've been listening to Pink Floyd the while time I've been writing this (About two hours for the first four chapters-half an hour in though it does sound a lot like the Hunger Games soundtrack though! Seriously! Go on to YouTube and look up Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon and skip through to 35mins and 30seconds!) I hope you like it so far. I did a plot outline and then went away and came across a fic with a girl who has memory loss too "/ I hope no one has gotten offended or upset because this story has a girl with memory loss in it as well, BUT read on because it does get very interesting! I hope you like it, please review! **

**PS; Sadly I don't own anything except the plot and Sky. If I owned Bard there's no way I'd tell anyone or be writing about him-I'd be eloping with him! ,**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5.**

Several weeks had passed and Bard had managed to find Sky lodgings above the bakery in exchange for her rising early to fire up the ovens and cleaning them out again each evening. Mr and Mrs Potts, the owners, could not afford to give her a wage but had a small living space that Mrs Pott's late mother had lived in until she passed on due to old age. With the story that Sky had come to visit old friends since her father's passing and her papers to say she had rights to stay she soon settled and spent some time with Jones, helping keep his equipment clean and his bag of lotions and elixirs organised and well stocked. Sky also helped the seamstress with her sewing load in exchange for a small amount of money, which was enough to pay for the small amount of food she ate. Sky made a habit of letting herself in to Bard's home each Friday evening to make him and the children a hot meal with left overs for the next day. She also washed their clothes on a Wednesday afternoon when she had no work to be getting on with. Something none of the family knew she did-until now.

It was in fact two in the afternoon and a warm but slightly over cast Wednesday, and Sky was stood at the kitchen sink and was going through a vast pile of socks. Last week she had taken a dozen pairs with her to sew the holes and returned them on Friday when no one was looking. And now they were in the sink with some soap being scrubbed. The door unlocked and opened and Sky froze. No one was supposed to be coming home for a long while yet! She'd be caught! Before she had a chance to hide with the intent of later removing herself, Bard walked in through the door, closed it and shrugged off his large coat. He turned and was surprised to see Sky standing with we damp shirt and a pair of his wet socks in her hands. He let his satchel drop to the floor.

"Sky?" He asked, not sure if he was imagining her or not.

"Hello. She said awkwardly.

"Are those…..my socks?"

"Yes."

"And you're washing my socks?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Ummm, why not?" She gave a small playful shrug and smiled at him. He raised his eyebrows and moved to the sink to fill the water kettle and set it on the fire top-which was hot since Sky had fed the fire with more wood when she made her way in to the house.

"How did you get in? I locked the door this morning." He went back to the door to pick up his satchel and watched Sky.

"Well, you did."

"Then how did you get in?" He stood next to her and peered at the socks in the sink; she had her work cut out for her.

"I picked the lock."

"You picked the lock?"

"Yes."

"How is it that you know how to pick a lock?"

Sky shrugged. "I don't know. I just do, instinct perhaps?" She answered.

"Or a memory?"

"I didn't remember how to do it, I just **knew**."

"So you picked the lock in to my house and now you're washing my socks?"

"Yes."

"Doesn't that seem strange to you?" He peered at her with an amused look on his face.

"Very. But you saved ly life, gave me a name and gave me a new life. I'm very grateful, and since you won't take any money from me, I'm washing your socks."

"How long have you been doing this?"

"A while. Since I moved in to the bakery."

"You do too much for use. Sneaking in and cleaning and then dinner on Fridays. You should be healing you know." Bard went back to the fire and began to prepare a hot cup of tea for them both. Sky sighed and wrung out the last of the socks before pegging them up to dry on the line above the sink.

"I'm sorry Bard, I can stop if you prefer. But you did so much for me and I want to do whatever I can to help you in return. Sigrid is old enough to help run this household but she is still just a child and needs to enjoy what she has left of her childhood years. You work hard to provide for your family and keep them safe. You also help the people of this town any way you can, and it's time someone looked after you." She crossed her arms in front of her, she didn't mean to sound so stern, but she had seen the burdens he carried and it broke her heart that he thought he still wasn't doing enough.

Bard sat at an arm chair and put the two mugs on the small table in between the two chairs and motioned for her to sit, so sit she did.

"I'm grateful, very much so. I had a sneaking suspicion you were doing more than making us dinner once a week. And I thank you for that. But what for you, I did because it was the right thing to do. And I would do it all over again without a moments hesitation." He took her hand in his. "You're a friend to this family and long will you be so. The children adore you, the town adores you-"

"And you? Slightly annoyed that I break in to your house once a week?" She smiled.

"I hardly find that an act of crime. I feel bad that you come in here and do so much and we offer you nothing in return." Bard looked in to her oddly coloured eyes and she smiled.

"I do it out of thanks and because I'd be bored with nothing to do. And I'll keep on doing it anyway, so you don't have a choice. All I ask is for one thing though; I want to go with you sometime, when you go to collect the empty barrels from Mirkwood. I'd like to see what lies outside of Laketown, especially now that the sun is breaking through the clouds more and it's warmer."

Bard sighed and took his had from her and ran his fingers through his greying hair.

"And what if something were to happen and you were to get hurt again? Or your memories come back and they're painful ones, ones that you do not want?" He looked at her with pleading eyes and she felt a tug at her heart. "You could have died from your injuries, and from the cold. A normal person would have done. You don't seem to be a normal person Sky; you healed very quickly, you have amazingly accurate intuition and you can feel things others do but do not speak about. You're vulnerable but strong at the same time. I fear you're one-of-a-kinds, something special. Something to keep safe."

"But hidden from the world." She whispered, staring in to the fire. Bard sighed and got off his chair and knelt down in front of her and gently tilted her chin up so he could look in to her freckled eyes.

"Maybe it's selfish of me to want to keep you here, but I'm afraid for you. If something happens to you I would not be able to live with myself. I lost my wife many years ago, I cannot risk losing a friend too."

"It was selfish of me to ask."

"No, you want to have experience of the world, and I cannot hide you it, or it from you. I'll take you, but only when summer is here and the weather is warmers and the sun is brighter in the sky. And I'll teach you to defend yourself, just so I can be sure you'll be safe."

"Thank you Bard. You're a kind man." Sky smiled and leaned in to gently kiss his cheek. Bard smiled and felt a warmth spread through him like fire, the heat filling his boots, finger tips and heart.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6.**

Sky laughed as Bard caught the hand she had tried to hit him with pulled her to him and began to gently tickle her sides. Her being ticklish was something they had both discovered during their first session when Bard had side stepped her hit and she nearly toppled, so Bard went to catch her.

"Stop! Stop! I can't breathe! Bard!" She called out in between fits of laughter.

"The you should be more observant and quick to learn, an enemy would not be so gentle." He told her, scolding playfully and tickling her more. Taking a deep breath she used what strength she had to put a foot against the table and push them both backwards so they toppled on to the bed which hit the wall softly. It was a move that caught Bard off guard, and Sky used it to her advantage, quickly turning to straddle him and grabbing one of the pillows and hitting him playfully on the head with it.

"Oh Bard, you know an enemy wouldn't be so gentle." She grinned, hitting him with the pillow again. "Don't I know it!" He retorted, trying to get up, but she quickly used her legs to pin him down and placed her hands on his shoulders, keeping him on his back.

"Well, what's the plan now bargeman? Tickle me to death? I think you'd like that a little too much." She grinned. Bard gave a chuckle traced his hands gently up and down her sides, amused as she tried to squeal.

"I think you like to watch me squirm." She giggled, wriggling and wrestling his hands away from her sides. He laughed and grabbed her hands and held them in one of his own while using the other to flip her over so it was him who was pinning her down this time.

"I like to tickle to you, it's entertaining." He smiled, wrestling against her as she tried to free herself away from him playfully.

"Well in that case, tickle away. I won't laugh anymore. I'm not going to give you the satisfaction." She said stubbornly, trying not to laugh at his tickling touch.

"Well that's no fun for me anymore." He said slightly out of breath.

"It's not meant to be."

"I enjoyed torturing you, you know."

"I enjoyed your touch, just not your tickle." She smiled, tucking a strand of hair behind his ear.

"My touch?"

"Yes. It's gentle, for a bargeman."

Bard gently stroked the side of her face and watched as she closed her eyes, leaned in to his touch and smiled.

"Sky-" He whispered, just as the door flew open and in came Bain, causing the two to jump to their feet.

"Da! Its Alfrid! He's looking for Sky!" Bain exclaimed, and as he was closing the door, the mad himself came trundling through.

"Well what have we here then? A bargeman skipping on his duties to play house with a poisoner?" The dank, dark haired man sneered with an evil grin on his face.

"Poisoner?" Bard put himself between Alfrid and Sky, she stood behind him with her hands on his back, confused.

"I found flies in my bread this morning and **she** made it! Handed it over with a sweet smile on her face, bidding me a good day! Gaurds! Take her in to custody!" Alfrid smiled and in came two burly men, grabbing hold of Sky by her arms and pulling her away from Bard.

"For the last time Alfrid; There were no flies in your bread! No one's trying to poison you!" She called out as she was dragged away abruptly. Bard grabbed a hold of Alfrid's coat collar and help him tightly.

"I don't know what game you're playing Alfrid, but she's done nothing wrong. If any harm comes to her-" Bard warned.

"You'll what, bargeman? What will you do?" Alfrid struggled his way out of Bard's grip and made for the door. "It's all a bit fishy if you ask me. Her father dies and suddenly she's your best friend. The whole town becomes her best friend, but no one knows anything about her or where she came from except for you."

"She's a nice person Alfrid, that's why the town is her friend. You'd be wise to let her go." Hearing Bard's words, Alfrid slammed the door closed behind him with a sneering grin on his face. He wanted to do everything he could to get rid of that do-gooder, and going after his weak and precious friend was just the right place to start.


End file.
